In the sixth chapter of II Kings is given the account of how a certain host of enemies of Elisha surrounded him in the village of Dothan "both with horses and chariots" to capture him. His servant Gehazi was very much frightened, and in desperation asked, "Alas, my master! how shall we do?" To Gehazi the situation surely must have seemed hopeless, but Elisha calmly said, "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." This was not a command imposed by Elisha on someone of lesser rank; it was an immediate declaration of sublime faith in the omnipotence and everpresence of God, a declaration of confident knowledge that divine Love is always active and always present—always the unperturbed master of any situation. Then Elisha prayed, and instead of his enemies laying hold on him, "behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha" in perfect protection.
This calm dependence on the presence of God in the face of imminent danger was not something acquired at that moment by the prophet. For a very long time he had been studying and demonstrating the ready power of God to heal, preserve, and bless. His unruffled assurance was reached through the constant practice of relying on God in every circumstance, and this reliance had been rewarded many times in his life.
Consider the plight of the children of Israel fleeing from the Egyptians, as related in Exodus. Egypt was a rich and powerful nation by all the material standards of her time, and so had an army well equipped with the best weapons then known. By contrast, the Israelites were probably unarmed, had no adequate transportation, and were encumbered by their families, domestic equipment, and slow-moving cattle. Further, they seemed to be most effectively prevented from escape by the Red Sea. Theirs indeed were sorry circumstances according to all physical testimony.
